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Brad Pitt breaks silence on divorce from Angelina Jolie for the first time since split

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt split in 2016.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt split in 2016. Picture: Getty

By Henry Moore

Brad Pitt has opened up about his divorce from Angelina Jolie for the first time after the pair’s fiery split was made official last year.

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The pair, perhaps the most beloved couple in Hollywood in their pomp, split in 2016 - but an eight-year legal row over the custody of their children saw the divorce finalised just last year.

Now, ahead of the launch of his new film F1, Pitt has broken his silence on the acrimonious split.

Playing down the end of his marriage, he said: “No, I don’t think it was that major of a thing.”

Read more: Smokey Robinson sues sexual assault accusers for $500m

Jolie has accused Pitt of assault.
Jolie has accused Pitt of assault. Picture: Alamy

“Just something coming to fruition. Legally,” he told GQ.

Looking back on the attention he and Angelina received while together, he added: “It’s been in the news for 30 years, bro. Or some version of my personal life, let’s put it that way.”

The pair first met on the set of 2005 action film Mr & Mrs Smith, just a year after Pitt had split from Friends star Jennifer Aniston.

Instantly, Brad and Angelina became Hollywood’s most prominent couple.

But their romance came to an end in 2016 after Jolie filed for divorce, accusing Pitt of assaulting her during an incident on a private jet.

An FBI investigation was launched following the allegations, but Pitt was not charged.

On the constant media attention, Pitt added: “It’s been an annoyance I’ve had to always deal with in different degrees, large and small, as I do the things I really want to do.

“So it’s always been this kind of nagging time suck or waste of time, if you let it be that, I don’t know. I don’t know.

“Mostly I feel pretty … My life is fairly contained. It feels pretty warm and secure with my friends, with my loves, with my fam, with my knowledge of who I am — that, you know, it’s like this fly buzzing around a little bit.”